Ex-Spongebob artist dabbles in fine art

White's true passion is painting fine art... he describes his style as "figurative realism", meaning his interpretation of how people interact.

White grew up in an artist household and drew all the time as a kid. He was not exactly an 'A'-student, and ended up dropping out of college to teach tennis. It was during one of his lessons that he got a lucky chance to draw for Warner Brothers Tiny Toon Adventures. He sold his two dirtbikes, packed up everything he had and drove out to California where he bounced around doing whatever work he could get. He ended up climbing the ladder to become a major designer for Spongebob.

Working for Spongebob, he said, was mostly a way to feed his painting addiction. He would even paint at work while he was supposed to be drawing for the cartoon, and when one of his coworkers would walk by, he would sneakily cover up his paintings with sketches of Spongebob.

Now, White is a critically acclaimed fine artist. Don't miss his gallery showing this weekend at Fascination Street. White says it'll be more of a party than your typical stuffy art showing, and he's glad to draw up a quick Spongebob sketch for kids who know about his roots.